Hall of Fame Class: Scott Gorgen

Anteater baseball is a household name in some collegiate baseball circles. The program was nonexistent 25 years ago before rising from the dead in 2002, and a meteoric rise saw the ‘Eaters back in the postseason three years into their revival and in the College World Series in six short years. But to some, even a student-athlete that was heavily influential in the rise, UC Irvine is still on the outside looking in.

“That window was pretty special.”

Scott Gorgen toed the Anteater mound from 2006 to 2008, a prime portion of a seriously impressive five-year run for UC Irvine baseball – a College World Series appearance in 2007, nation’s top-ranked team in 2009 along with a regional host and Big West title, and Super Regionals in 2008 and 2011 where the Anteaters were one strike away from two more College World Series trips. UC Irvine baseball vaulted into the spotlight, and while the program has made another College World Series since then, consistently handling Power Five programs, and posting winning season after winning season, all the accolades still leave the Anteaters on the outside of the national conversation.

Gorgen was outside the conversation in his senior year of high school. His twin brother was getting a lot of the shine heading into the season already signed and the team’s star pitcher while Scott had sights on junior college to play baseball and football.

The brothers were inseparable on the baseball field going back to five years of age.

“It came easy to us. When we were five years old, we were already turning double plays.”

Like most, Gorgen was playing other sports like football and basketball, but he knew his best chance to keep playing down the line was going to be baseball, which happened to be his first passion. Funny enough, his first passion wasn’t pitching despite the dominating force he was on the mound as an Anteater.

During his short stint living in Maryland at 11, Scott attended workout with a local team in an indoor, cement-floor warehouse.

“The coaches asked, ‘does anybody here catch?’ I had never caught before in my life, but I had always been taught to never turn anything down; just say yes and just try it. So, I raised my hand.”

Despite never even putting on the gear in his life, a catcher was born. From 11 all the way through to senior year, Scott Gorgen the catcher was living his dream of playing baseball. “I had a chance to be the quarterback or captain on the field, being involved in every single play.”

So, as he headed into that senior season, the catcher was ready to catch for his twin brother on the mound. Football season did a number on his brother, Matt, who suffered a shoulder injury and couldn’t start the baseball season. It made sense that the inseparable brothers were again helping each other to the next step of the journey.

“I remember distinctively my coach goes ‘well you’re his twin brother, if he can throw 90, let’s put you on the mound and see if you can as well.’ I told him I’ve never pitched, just catcher and maybe a little third base. Sure enough, over time it became my thing.”

By season’s end, he was MVP of the league and leading the squad back to the playoffs. His brother returned from injury and was back on the mound with Scott behind the plate, and any inning he wasn’t on the mound, Scott was up there.

“It was so fun; I found a whole new passion for pitching at that point. That’s really how it started for me.”

The offers began to roll in including UC Irvine who was looking at Scott’s brother initially. He admittedly didn’t show very well when he was scouted, but it was enough to earn him a visit.

“That’s when the recruiting process started. Then I fell in love in Irvine when I got down there. Seeing Irvine, thinking this is beautiful, living at Newport Beach, you can’t beat it.”

There were still other programs competing including rival Long Beach State where Gorgen’s friend and teammate was headed, but UCI had just enough over the other places.

“I could have gone right from the beach alone, I’m a NorCal guy and didn’t have any beaches around.”

The Concord-native had another driving force for Gorgen - coaching. Growing up and seeing schools like Stanford, Texas, and Cal State Fullerton at the top of the game with names like George Horton, Mike Gillespie, and Augie Garrido among the coaches he looked up to, it was a dream to be part of that success and tradition.

“Well, I wasn’t going to play for Horton, not playing for Garrido, but if I can play for the coaching staff that was at Fullerton, while at UC Irvine, get a UCI education, and play in the same conference, that sounds pretty cool!”

The stars were all aligning for Gorgen seeing as the Anteaters were starting to touch some success. Under head coach Dave Serrano’s guidance, Scott was raising his game with his 90s-fastball and developing a changeup, and an opportunity to pitch as a freshman in the rotation. Didn’t waste much time crossing off bucket list items with a win over then-No. 1 Cal State Fullerton and praise from coach Horton. The 2006 Anteaters reached the postseason playing in a regional at Pepperdine. It was the veteran arms of Justin Cassel and Glenn Swanson who toed the rubber for those games, two pitchers that really set up Gorgen for his starting role down the line and proved their mettle for years in the program already, and Gorgen still made a vital appearance in extra innings of the elimination game against Missouri.

“To ‘earn’ and be trusted with being the Friday night guy the following year. Even if you start there, doesn’t mean you’re going to stay there, things change, but to be entrusted with that, I took it seriously and it was on me to lead the staff that best I can.”

The 2007 season was the ‘Eaters’ best chance to win a Big West title which came down to the last weekend. Despite Gorgen’s efforts, a two-hit shutout Friday night over James Simmons and UC Riverside, the conference titles hopes ended on Saturday. The postseason was next up sending the ‘Eaters and Gorgen to mighty Texas pitting two top-10 programs together in the same regional.

Cool way to start by dispatching Wake Forest, 13-0 and another masterful performance another weekend cornerstone, Wes Ethridge striking out 10 over eight shutout, and then going toe-to-toe with Texas. “The game that decides our season,” Gorgen noted. Changeup after changeup took down the mighty, power-hitting Longhorns. Getting praise from another of the legends he admired, Augie Garrido, between press conferences put another feather in the cap. He would return in the regional final to help move the program through the lightning storm delays and along to the Supers.

The team came together for a pair of high intensity wins in the Super Regionals at Wichita State with the defense backing Gorgen in the opener after he threw 141 pitches in a 1-0 complete game victory with fellow Hall of Famer Ben Orloff at shortstop, heart-and-soul Aaron Lowenstein catching every pitch, Ollie Linton running down every ball even close to center field, and grinders like Sean Madigan and Cody Cipriano willing the only run across.

All along the way, a determined staff working as a unit alongside Ethridge, arms like Christian Bergman and Tom Calahan locking down wins, and Daniel Bibona and Bryce Stowell who would be big parts of the 2007 success and into the next seasons and postseason runs. 

A memorable run in the College World Series again taking down Coach Horton’s Titans and then a second straight, extra innings win eliminating Arizona State who had dumped the ‘Eaters in the opener behind starter Gorgen. He would exact his revenge in relief to keep the dream alive for the Anteaters.

Ultimately falling a game short of the national final, the Anteaters were as high as they could be. Coach Serrano then sprung a little shock on the program returning to his previous spot to take the helm of Cal State Fullerton. A tough transition to stomach, but with another legend like Mike Gillespie stepping in, the ‘Eaters were still in good hands.

“The transition was tough because you had a motivator like coach Serrano with a staff that was really hands-on with us, and then you have Skip who was hard-nosed, old-school mentality. For certain guys, it was probably more difficult; I thought it was so cool because I remember growing up watching him in all those College World Series games.”

Gorgen would pick up right where he left off in his junior season picking up a third All-American honor, the program’s first Big West Pitcher of the Year accolade and finished sitting atop the program in career strikeouts while the ‘Eaters forged their way through another regional and an out away from upending LSU to get back to the College World Series.

While Gorgen and the ‘Eaters reaped the success of being led by two legends of the game, it was a staff effort that made all the difference.

“Those two are legends, but what do legends surround themselves with – unbelievable coaching staffs. The amount of people we were surrounded by that were able to go elsewhere and be successful and be motivators, speaks volumes to what Irvine was able to capture during those years.”

It’s trickled down even to the players and alums with Orloff now at the helm at UC Irvine, Gregg Wallis now the head man at Grand Canyon, and countless others that have climbed into the assistant ranks on the collegiate level and even manning high school programs.

With all the countless contributors that none of this success for Gorgen would have been possible without, it couldn’t hold back the emotions after getting the call.

“I know what it means, I understand and have played enough baseball and been around enough guys, your name is etched into the history books forever and no one can take that away from you. To know I’ll be in there with the Skips and the Gary Adams and Orloffs and inductees still to come! But to be recognized for my time at UC Irvine as part of the university and the program and be part of those staffs and teams, while it’s a solo accomplishment, it so isn’t, there’s so much that goes into it from the academic side, the support from friends outside of baseball, family, you’ve got to be on the straight and narrow to have that kind of success. You don’t make it on your own – without your team you’re not anywhere.”